THE WONDERFUL CAVE.
THEY have so much to tell, it seems as though they had been gone a
week. Their mother is most interested in hearing about the anemones,
while their father wishes he could have been with them when they saw
the land-crabs.
"It makes me think," says he, "of a wonderful trip I made when I was
quite a young man. I met land-crabs that day in a much stranger place
than you ever saw them, Manuel. Did I ever tell you children about my
visit to the 'Great Caves'?"
Manuel and Dolores draw close to their father's side and exclaim
together:
"Why, no, papa. Oh, do tell us, please. I never even heard of them."
The planter smiles and answers: "It is not strange, my dears, for there
are people living within a much shorter distance of these caves who
have never heard of them, as well as yourselves. It is, indeed, odd;
but you will yet see the day when travellers from distant lands will
visit our island for the sake of seeing the wonderful things hidden
away in those very caverns.
"When I was younger, I was always looking for adventures. My father
was a rich man, and I was allowed to do very much as I liked. So when
some friends of mine asked me to join them in a trip to the caves, I
was much pleased. They told me the ride would be tiresome and perhaps
dangerous, but I liked the idea far better for that very reason.
"We started out early one morning. Two guides went with us. They were
men who had been in the caves many times. They knew the best way to
reach them. We carried coils of rope and a roll of pitch lights, as
well as a good luncheon.
"If we could have gone straight up the side of the mountain, it would
have been a short trip; but the trail led up and down, in and out. Now
we had to climb a narrow ridge, and then descend again into a valley.
One of these ridges was so steep that I had to hold on to the pommel of
the saddle with all my might. I shut my eyes at the same time. I feared
I would grow dizzy and slip from the back of the horse down the side of
the precipice.
"But this was for only a short distance. Most of the road was very
beautiful and lined with fruit-trees. Sometimes we could have picked
great ripe oranges without dismounting; in many a narrow pass the
clusters of bananas hung down so near us we had to bend our heads to
keep from being knocked from the saddles.
"At last we had climbed so high we found ourselves with mountain tops
on every side. Far below lay an immense coffee plantation. We could see
the great drying-pans near the buildings. Only a short distance ahead
of us was a white cliff of limestone. Here lay the caves we had come to
visit.
"We tied our horses to some trees, and crept, hand and foot, up through
a narrow gorge. Its sides were walls of rock, and its roof was made of
vines, ferns, and overhanging fruit-trees. How sweet and cool the air
seemed!
"Yes, straight in front of us we could just see two great black holes.
These were the doorways of the caves. And now the guides handed each
one of us a lighted torch. The burning gum made a sweet incense as it
sputtered. It gave the only light we should have for many hours.
"The guides slowly led the way into the dark cavern ahead. The floor
was wet and muddy, and we had to take care not to slip.
"Ugh! there were numbers of great black spiders here. Their bite might
be poisonous, and we took care not to lay our hands against the walls
where they travelled up and down. The place was damp and slippery.
There was certainly nothing beautiful to be seen yet.
"Hark! There was a rustling sound over our heads. It grew louder and
louder, until we could not hear each other's voices. As we looked up
into the darkness, we could see we had startled an army of bats. There
were thousands of them. Yes, surely, many thousands. You wouldn't have
enjoyed their flying around you one bit, Manuel, good little huntsman
even as you are. And as for you, my precious Dolores, I fear you would
have screamed and begged to be taken home.
"Over our heads we could hear the sound of running water all the time.
We kept bravely on. It began to grow lighter, and we could see several
openings in front of us. Choosing one of these, we crept through a
narrow passage and found ourselves at once in a vast hall. It was like
Aladdin's palace, which, you remember, was brilliant with beautiful
gems.
"I looked up to the high roof and saw hundreds of sparkling white
pendants. Some of them were quite small, but others reached down so
far that I could touch them. They shone like the finest marble. They
were made by the water trickling through the roof and leaving particles
of lime as it slowly made its way downward. Such pendants are called
stalactites. Some of them were tinted a beautiful blue or green. This
was because the water had passed through some mineral substance of
those colours.
"And the walls of that hall! Sparkling white columns reached from
the floor to the very dome. They were fluted and worked in the most
delicate patterns. I can never forget that wonderful picture.
"But what ugly creatures made their home in this wonderful palace of
Mother Nature? They were land-crabs, to be sure, that tried to get out
of our way as fast as their clumsy feet would permit. It was your story
of the crabs, Manuel, that made me think of that day's tramp.
"You can hardly believe it, children, but we passed from one such hall
to another until we had travelled at least a mile underground. Here and
there were dark holes leading farther down yet. We could look over the
edge sometimes and see other great hallways directly under where we
were. The guides said:
"'No, no, you must not try to reach them. You may never get back.'
"But I insisted on going into one, at least. A stout rope was fastened
about my waist; two men held it tightly, and gradually let me go.
Down I went, down, down, down. Would I never reach the bottom? I was
growing a little scared, when I found myself on the floor of another
great hall, much like the one above it. I groped about and relighted my
torch, which had gone out as I was lowered through the damp air.
"I found myself beside a stream of running water. It was flowing right
by the doorway into the cave. I had heard there was just such an
entrance as this,--that down on the side of the mountain a person could
get into the cavern by first passing through the water.
"I had read a legend of this very place. It was about a young girl who
had hidden herself from her enemies by swimming into the cave through
the secret entrance below the surface of the river.
"By this time my friends were getting worried about me. I felt a gentle
pull at the rope and I heard them calling. Their voices seemed strange
and far away. And now I was slowly lifted upward to find myself in the
midst of my friends.
"It was time to turn again toward the daylight. We said good-bye to
the cave and its city of palaces. In another hour we were again in
open air, looking at mountain tops. We asked ourselves if the day's
wonderful sights really had been a dream or not."